Tilt Buster: The Killers in Concert at UC Irvine

Posted by icemonkey9 on Sep 25, 2009 in tiltbuster | 0 comments

As part of a new series of features, I'll talk about things I do to get myself off of tilt.  The first was a rock concert I went to for the popular alternative rock band, The Killers earlier this month.  The performance was at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center, which fits about 5,000 people.

My wife and I went and met up with some friends about three full hours before the concert started as we planned to rush the stage and be right up front for it.  We were definitely successful in doing that and spent three hours shooting the breeze with idle talk and playing Scrabble on my wife's iPhone.  That game is damn addicting.

Once we got in I debated on getting a t-shirt and just decided what the heck so I shelled out the $30 which is pretty standard at a concert.  It's a kick ass shirt ... the only problem is that the XL was extremely thin and small-ish and made me look like an overweight linebacker.  For the record I'm 5'11" and have very broad shoulders ... anyways I am sure once I wash this thing once it'll become part of the wife's collection.

The first band to come out represented my home town of San Diego. They had a "talented" lead singer who was also the lead guitarist and presumably featured his friends and two girlfriends.  They were exceptionally mediocre and his last song that featured the tag line (imagine some beatnik looking as serious as possible): "When the beat comes down, you better take cover!" and then played a really average C+ song with that chorus.

The second band to come out was some modern Mexican Mariachi band that kind of sounded like a mellow Mexi-Sublime.  The lead singer would say before every song the name of the song and who the song was for.  Every song they played sounded very similar and it was about the third song when they lost the crowd. By the last song he said, "this is our last song" which the crowd cheered for, and of course I heckled (not too loud, just so the people around me near the front of the stage could hear), "This song is called 'Getting Our Asses Off the Stage' and it's for ourselves because people want to see The Killers!" and we all had a good laugh. Anyways once they were done we were ready to rock, and rock we did.

The Killers came out to "Spaceman" and proceeded to rock the joint for about 1.5 hours.  They played all their hit songs and lead vocalist Brandon Flowers worked the crowd fantastically.  I had heard they weren't all that great live, but I have no idea what those people were thinking, these guys were great.  All in all it was a fantastic concert and a lot of fun to be SO close with a band I really enjoy listening to. On tilt? Go to a rock concert. It kicks ass.

Here are some pictures I took myself!

Lead singer Brandon Flowers

Lead guitarist Dave Keuning

Lead guitarist Dave Keuning at the end of "Human" if memory serves correctly

What Do I Want from Poker?

Posted by icemonkey9 on Sep 17, 2009 in beats | 2 comments

Well, here it is people ... this is going to rank right up there with "gee he's probably tilted when he wrote this" posts for the blog.  It's been a freefall September special for the old icemonkey.  Let's do a quick recap of recent hands so you understand that I don't spontaneously combust but actually tilt because it all sucks a big one.

Last 1,500 Hand Sample:

• AK<AA AIPF at 6max
• QQ<AJ AIPF at 6max
• 44 flops set, loses to a flush (played poorly on river, tilts me more)
• AA<TJs in a big 3bet pot when we get it in on flop
• KK<AQ AIPF
• AA<67s when he calls down with 3rd pair and spiked 2 pair river
• QQ<AA at 6max
• AA<Q9 on a K56 flop and we got in all our money there
• AK<KK AIPF
• KK<AK AIPF

So now I'm stuck for the month.  Yippie.  I took a peek at the EV graph and yes, it's not pretty.  I am definitely not playing great poker which is all the more frustrating.  Big downswings happen when you run bad and you play bad.  That's happening for me.

BTW if someone comments "take a break" I might just hunt you down, burn your house down and then throw you into the ocean. No shit I should take a break.

Anyways before my latest tiltfest (fortunately at 50nl) I wrote several good friends about my thoughts about "hanging it up" with playing poker in any sort of official capacity.  I guess right now I almost consider it a part time job where I spend time learning the craft and trying to earn money.  But for the most part, the question of "What Do I Want From Poker?" has gone unanswered for the better part of two years.

Did I want to see if I could learn, climb the ladder and go pro?  Well I have to admit that might have been in the back of my mind at the beginning but I quickly learned that lifestyle is impossible for me and abandoned that idea. I suppose I've been marching towards climbing up to 200nl, get solidified in my game and then make some really good side money playing there.  The 200nl shot fell flat on its face, and it's been downhill pretty much since then.

So what do I want? Do I want to grind it until I get to 200nl and take a shot, play there and make some extra bank?  The problem is that winning at 200nl is hard, especially when you only play part-time for 20k hands a month like I do.  In fact, it just might be really impossible to do. I tried to think of all the poker guys out there I know that picked up poker while married and grinded it up to medium stakes to win extra money if not full time level money. Out of the literal hundreds of poker players I've met, there was only 1 singular guy I know of that can tell that story.  So ... clearly the odds say it's very difficult to be done.

That leaves me thinking that the best thing to do would be to grind out 100nl and just play there, where I've proved I can win. Clearly, I am going through a Roseann-Barr's-Ass-Hole of a stinky downswing right now, but the 50k hands before the recent 10k show that I know WTF I am doing.  The prospect of playing in my spare time and being able to cash out a few hundred bucks if not more a month is pretty appealing. Low stress, low expectations and something highly achievable every single month no matter how bad I run.  I guess for now, that's all I want from poker - being able to play the game and have fun, and count on a few hundred bucks a month to do whatever I feel like, whether that is save it for a trip or buying something like tires for the car.

So what now brown cows?

Ya you brain surgeons that want to write "hey take a break you are tilted we are going though it too calm down you'll get through it no problems its just variance" and other trite trivialities will be happy to know that I am indeed saying fuck it all and not playing for 4 days minimum and probably more.  After the dust settles and the clouds go away, and according to my mom's friend the alignment of the planets readjust with our moon (this is causing our bad run for those of you running like I am) on the 23rd of this month should make things a lot better for us all.

I'll see you when the planets realign.  Until then I'm going to have FUN.

I’m not tilted, sorry it read that way!

Posted by icemonkey9 on Sep 12, 2009 in tilt | 0 comments

Judging by the comments from yesterday's post I take it I came across tilted.  Sorry for that ... I probably exaggerated my mental condition inadvertendly because of the lateness of the hour and the diminshed mental capacity.

The truth is I am doing fine ... and there's something to be said for the question of, "Why are you playing anything but your normal game when your normal game yields a great result?" and I really don't have a good answer for that.  Why play Sit & Gos and Tournaments and dabble in 6max play?  My full ring game is nitty, tight, right and profitable.  When things don't go right outside of that "normal" routine, I'm risking myself and mental balance to keep that normal state.

For example, tonight I got some work done and decided I was too tired to really play a great 6max or full ring game.  Plus at 1am PST the games suck, even on the weekends.  Anyways I decide to play two $7 Ultra Turbo Sit & Gos because they are fun and I feel like I can conquer these no problem because I know how to get my money in good.

Result Game 1: Shoved KK on the BTN with 7 big blinds. 3 callers. One shoves the flop, the rest fold. He shows 66 and gets runner runner flush to take me down, I lose as a 84-16% favorite.

Result Game 2: Shoved UTG with JJ with 8 big blinds, get called by the big blind who shows TT. The T naturally flops, and I lose as a 82-18% favorite.

Result = -$15

So there's something to be said for quantifiably saying I really wasted my time there.  I hear you loud and clear.  I really am just chuckling now for playing those, but I know why I did.

The reason I did is so I don't stay bored with poker.  When I go through long stretches of playing one game exclusively, even if its FR NLHE or NLHE 6max, I get bored. My game gets stagnant.  I need something to shuffle up my game and keep it fresh.  Dabbling in other games does that for me.  What's good is that in the case of 6max for example, I've always shown a profit.  The "problem" is that the profit win-rate isn't as much as it is for full ring, so naturally I gravitate towards what makes me the most money per my time.

I did play a quick session of 6max earlier in the day and won some decent pots that really helped rebound from the last few days.  I saw what happened to Vizer02 today and just shutter to think that something like that could happen to such a good player.

Anyways, sorry to alarm people and get comments like "you need a break" which is usually reserved for my monkey tilt period.  I'm definitely not there (yet?) people.

100nl 6max Attempt and Random Thoughts

Posted by icemonkey9 on Sep 11, 2009 in 6max | 2 comments

Well the full ring grind wasn't going so well, meaning that I wasn't winning my normal 5BB/100 and was playing below EV ... so a friend of mine is singing the praises of 100nl 6max and how it's just uber-fishy and like printing money.  I say ya what the heck time I played 6max anyways.  I sit down for 30 minutes, go completely card dead and walk away +$61.  That felt good!

So tonight the wife goes to bed early and I am up thanks to a huge sized iced White Chocolate coffee freeze thing I had at the mall.  I decided ya it's time to play more 6max so I fire up four tables. Early on I am against a 57/43/inf fish with a 36% 3bet figure over a very small amount of hands.

$0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players -

Hero (BB): $142.00

UTG: $95.95

CO: $100.00

BTN: $103.50

SB: $156.55

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with Q Q

UTG raises to $3.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $13, UTG raises to $95.95 all in, Hero calls $82.95

Flop: ($192.40) A 4 4

Turn: ($192.40) 2

River: ($192.40) 5

Final Pot: $192.40

Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Fours)

UTG shows J A (two pair, Aces and Fours)

UTG wins $189.40

-------------------------------

So I lose as the 72-28% favorite and that stung. Of course, as is the usual, he left the table after winning the hand.

So times goes on and I make a raise with AK and the guy in the big blind is a 29/27/inf with a 20% 3bet figure when facing a raise from the CO or BTN.

$0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players -

MP: $133.40

Hero (CO): $125.25

BTN: $176.55

SB: $100.00

BB: $110.10

UTG: $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with K A

2 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 2 folds, BB raises to $11, Hero raises to $26, BB requests TIME, BB raises to $110.10 all in, Hero calls $84.10

Flop: ($220.70) 3 3 T

Turn: ($220.70) 5

River: ($220.70) T

Final Pot: $220.70

Hero shows K A (two pair, Tens and Threes)

BB shows A A (two pair, Aces and Tens)

BB wins $217.70

-------------------------------

Not sure if this hand was a fold here but I'd seen him be pretty agro in the big blind. In retrospect this might have been a fold. I'm posting this very close to when I played it so hindsight is always 20/20.

Ah well ... there are others to share but what's the point. Fortunately I am still up this month but *barely* and all my losses are at 6max, where I am now several buy-ins below EV.

If i play more 6max maybe I'll finally re-establish some of my coaching sessions with Taylor, who is now a Stox coach.  That's probably the smart move.

Random Thoughts

• I'm tired and am ready to go to bed.
• I have a lot to do in terms of writing tomorrow.
• Not sure if I will continue any more 6max ever again but I really enjoy the game more than FR but the results speak for themselves historically.
• Really looking forward to PT3 for the Mac.  Couple that with BlazingStars (AHK type of program) and you have something to be excited about.
• Had a great interview about HUDs with DiscoBisco from 2p2 and it's going to make a great article for micro-stakes players to read.
• Started watching the reloaded new version of Battlestar Galatica on DVD.  Many people recommended it to me but I just never caught it while it was on TV.  Boy did I miss the boat, this show is pretty amazing.  My wife and I finished the first season and I decided to just buy the whole series on BluRay.  I *never* buy movies or TV shows so that should speak volumes about what I think of the value of this show.
• Good poker blogs are dead.  Seriously.  I used to enjoy reading these two years ago but these days it's really hard to find any worth reading that add any entertainment value or education to the content.
• Anyone else excited about "Flash Forward" on ABC?  Looks cool.
• Fringe is a very underrated show and is a nice refresh of the X-Files concept.
• I am so beyond sick of the music in my digital library.  It seems like when I run bad, music gets shittier.
• NHL 10 comes out next week and I'm picking it up for PS3.  I didn't buy last year's edition because it didn't seem to be anything different than 08.
• I am happy that the NFL season is finally underway, and the 13-10 snoozer with the Steelers and Titans was a boring way to kick off the season.  Ya ya, I am sure all the Pittsburgh fans are stoked about the clutch and exciting OT win ... the rest of us kept waiting for touchdowns all game long thank you.
• Did I mention I was really tired?

September Swings – Mac Poker Software, Crack, Hyper Turbos and More

Posted by icemonkey9 on Sep 4, 2009 in 100nl | 0 comments

Well September has been a busy month for me professionally.  I've written 10 articles this past week ranging from WCOOP and MiniFTOPS previews to the rise of poker software for a Mac.  For those of you that haven't seen "BlazingStars" and Poker Copilot 2 in action together, it's something to behold.  Basically BlazingStars is a hotkey program and Poker Copilot 2 is a full hand history tracking utility with a HUD.  Both are awesome.  Big news came when PokerTracker 3 people said a Mac version is on the way which is real exciting for me since I'll be on the private beta test.  If you're a dogmatic PC person that thinks Macs are for hipsters, you're definitely wrong.  The operating system and architecture, not to mention the stability are something that even computer neophytes will appreciate.

Poker Playing

So far the start to the month has definitely been very swingy.  I started so cold it wasn't even funny.  I was thinking to myself I really didn't seem to be hitting any flops or big hands, so I did a check in Holdem Manager and sure enough, through 3,000 hands I was hitting 2.6% of sets (supposed to be 11.5%) and looks like I was whiffing bad a lot of the time in other situations. Look at 3bet pots and man I was getting killed by not hitting and my opponent hitting hard so cbetting became suicidal.  That's nothing huge to read into but just confirmed my observations at the table.

There are some mega-frustrating hands that would happen and it seems like hands that are top pair top kicker over overpairs are getting outflopped every time.  And every time, it's against a massive fish.  Take a look at this hand for example:

This guy is a 37/15/3 and his min-raise was pretty suspect.  But the fact that he just kept barreling made me wary that he indeed hit that flop hard and was going with it.  I don't think at any point I was thinking of raising him and maybe on the flop that was a mistake.  I posted this hand and basically everyone agreed it's a crying call at the river.

Anyways hopefully this stretch of "this stuff" happening is behind me (at least where it happens a majority of the time) and I'm judging to simply get my hands in and play some cards.

It's like CRACK

A good internet poker buddy of mine that works for a few of the sites I write with suggested I try hyper turbo multi-table tournaments.  I usually look for a game to give me some variety from the daily grind and WOW these things are fun.  You start with 10 big blinds and the blinds move up every 5 minutes (on Full Tilt) or 3 minutes (on PokerStars).  I have been playing the $7 matrix ones on FTP and those are a great distractor.  I've played four and "taken it down" twice (meaning won at least 1 of the 4 tournaments + 1st place overall bonus). Anyways if you are looking for something stupid and fun, I highly suggest these tournaments.  They are like poker crack.

Congrats to ChuckTs (aka CLEAN)!!!

A good friend of mine, Taylor, just announced that he got hired on as a coach at popular poker training site Stox Poker.  Taylor's a perfect fit over there and I am so glad he got this gig.  As many of you might know Taylor is my coach (when I book sessions that is) and he's dramatically improved my game.  I guess I'm not *too* happy he'll be improving others!  Nevertheless, I think Stox got themselves one of the up and coming stars of 6max online poker.

Vegas Report Coming

I did take my wife to Vegas for 4 days and 3 nights last weekend for her birthday and I do have a report coming soon.  I only played poker over at the M Resort where we stayed one night with no real results to report.  Vegas is kind of played out for me at this point and I don't think I'll be going back for at least six months unless I get some magical assignment to cover the final table of the WSOP.  Anyways, I have a biting commentary about Vegas night clubs coming soon. (they suck)